A 32-year-old Illinois man was charged Wednesday with setting fire to a Planned Parenthood clinic earlier this month, and he has quite an extensive criminal history, including aggravated domestic battery with strangling, burglary, and a list of other offenses. Tyler W. Massengill is accused of "malicious use of fire and an explosive to damage, and attempt to damage" the clinic in Peoria, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.
His excuse? Massengill told the authorities that he recalled his then-girlfriend had an abortion three years ago, and that upset him, so he somehow thought that if his actions caused "a little delay" in a woman receiving services at the clinic, it may have been "all worth it."
Via The New York Times:
It is unclear from the charging documents what might have reminded Mr. Massengill of the former girlfriend's abortion. The attack on the Peoria Health Center on Jan. 15 came just days after sweeping abortion protections were signed into law in Illinois.
The fire caused "significant damage" to the clinic, which has closed its doors to patients, potentially for several months or more, according to court documents. Earlier this month, fire officials estimated the damage at more than $150,000, while Planned Parenthood said it would most likely exceed $1 million.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, surveillance footage from that evening shows a man arriving at the clinic at around 11:20 p.m., wearing a coat with a hood pulled up, and holding a "laundry-detergent-sized bottle." The man lit a rag stuffed into the end of the bottle on fire, smashed one of the clinic's windows open, and put the bottle inside, documents say.
Investigators said that the truck that appeared in surveillance footage — a 1996 white Dodge Dakota with red doors — matched the description given by a bystander. On Monday, investigators said, they received a tip from a woman claiming that Mr. Massengill had left his pickup truck at her home in Sparland, Ill., about 26 miles north of the clinic, and requested that she paint the red doors white for $300.
He faces up to 40 years in prison, and the charge could also carry up to three years of supervised release and $250,000 in fines.
Sorry, but I have to say it. Lock him up!
